Thursday, March 28, 2013

Maybe not the five goals that matched a season high in Tuesday’s 5-2 win at Philadelphia to open this three-game road trip. But at least the sustained good start and potential for goal production that has mostly eluded the Rangers this inconsistent season as only the Sharks and Blue Jackets have fewer than their 75 total goals.

As this lockout-shortened season enters its final month, every point is crucial and the typically low-scoring Rangers need more of a margin of error. They start today in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind the idle Devils for seventh but just two points ahead of the ninth-place Islanders, who are at Philadelphia tonight.

Despite a 3-2 shootout loss at Ottawa on Feb. 21, the Rangers have had recent success at Scotiabank Place, outscoring the Senators 22-15 in the teams’ last eight games in Ottawa, with the Rangers going 6-1-1.

The Rangers have lost both games to the Senators this season, both by 3-2.

Tonight’s potential milestone list is:
- Brian Boyle will play in his 300th NHL game
- Ryan Callahan needs one assist for his 100th career assist

A couple of things to watch for based on coach John Tortorella’s pre-game comments.

1. Marian Gaborik screwed up big time against the Flyers, inexplicably touching a puck to create an offsides that led to an offensive zone faceoff that led to the Flyers’ second goal, making it 3-2 in the third period. Gaborik has one goal in his last 10 games.

“It’s the legs with Gabby, he’s got to move his legs,” Tortorella said. “At times in the game versus Philly he did and I thought he helped create some offense. He’s scored some big goals and he’s scored a lot of goals for us. It’s still there. He’s still a really good player. It’s just a matter of getting him untracked here and it starts with his legs.”

I asked Tortorella if not getting his legs moving was more mental than physical.

“I just think it’s engaging,” Tortorella said. “I think it’s testing people. That’s what I’d like to see him to, test people, a little one-on-one to get himself going that way. I believe he will.”

I also asked Tortorella about D Roman Hamrlik playing just 4:19 against the Flyers and Tortorella quickly expanded that to Hamrlik and his defense partner, Anton Stralman, who logged 10:22.

“I thought Hamrlik and Stralman really struggled in the first period,” Tortorella said. “We cut back (on the rotation). We didn’t want to go with four. We picked out Stralsy as a guy we’d spot in there. They’ll play tonight, but we have to win some games and it will be shortened pretty quick if we don’t think it’s happening for some guys.”

Henrik Lundqvist is making his ninth straight start tonight, a good indication he’s not suffering from a concussion.

However, Lundqvist was questioned on the topic this morning based on his comments following Tuesday’s 5-2 win at Philadelphia that he was feeling ‘off’ at the start of the game and still suffering from little headaches. Lundqvist initially suffered a stiff neck after colliding with defenseman Dan Girardi in a 3-2 win at New Jersey on March 19. Lundqvist said after that game he had a headache the final two periods and he also missed practice the next day.

“No I’m fine,” Lundqvist said this morning. “Obviously, we looked at different signs for that. That’s what I tried to explain (Tuesday). Sometimes you overthink just because you get hit in head and you’re not feeling well, I wonder if it’s the impact from that. But it’s not. I know my body I know how I feel, it’s fine, it’s under control.”

To review, here’s what Lundqvist said Tuesday: “I didn’t feel great and sometimes that helps you. You have to be more focused, in order to be ready. The last two days, I have been feeling a little off. When the game started, I felt it was really important for me to really focus on each shot and I feel like I had a good first period. It was just my head. I was just thinking if the shot bothered me, got little headaches, then I felt better, but it was still bad. You build up something. It’s just mental. You have to put it aside and tell yourself “You’re fine. Go out and play” and after five or ten minutes you start to feel better.”

Meanwhile, obviously the talk around town today was the Penguins’ acquisition of Jarome Iginla from the Flames, just adding to the Penguins’ stacked lineup. Senators coach Paul MacLean joked: “I don’t even know why we’re going to bother playing the playoffs.”

(Rangers coach John Tortorella declined comment).

Lundqvist had this take: “Well, they’re the best team in the Eastern Conference right now, and they keep adding players left and right (also ex-Star LW Brendan Morrow and ex-Sharks D Douglas Murray). They’ve been playing well all year, they’ve got great goaltending and their key guys are playing at a level where it’s tough to defend. It’s a great challenge for the rest of us to try to beat that team. At the same time, the more they add the more pressure they add to themselves.”
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The Rangers will have the same lineup tonight against the Senators as they did in Tuesday’s 5-2 win at Philadelphia with, presumably, the same lines.

That means Mats Zuccarello, Darroll Powe and Matt Gilroy are the healthy scratches with Henrik Lundqvist in goal. For the Senators, Ben Bishop will be the starting goalie.

Coach John Tortorella, in announcing the newly re-signed Zuccarello would not be in tonight’s lineup, also did not commit to having the Norwegian playmaker in Saturday’s lineup at Montreal.

Zuccarello, after remaining on the ice late, met with the media and expressed his happiness in rejoining the Rangers. His KHL contract has been terminated and he will again be an NHL restricted free agent after this season. But Zuccarello said by coming back to North America, he is hoping this is the beginning of a long NHL career for him, preferably with the Rangers.

“It’s a great feeling this is something I wanted to do, when I got the chance it was a pretty easy choice and I’m glad to be here,” Zuccarello said. “It’s a little different (in the KHL) but you just have to battle through it. I’m sure when it’s time for me to play and everybody feels I’m ready, I’ll get enough input from everybody to be ready to play.

“No,” Zuccarello added when asked if he thought the day would come when he would rejoin the Rangers. “I wasn’t thinking about that when I left. But when I heard there was interest I was happy in that. It was a quick choice. Obviously it was (disappointing when he didn’t re-sign with the Rangers after last season) but that’s part of the game, sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn’t work out. You just have to stay positive. I went to the KHL and played there. It’s a great league to play in, a lot of skilled players and more physical than I thought it was going to be. I feel like I played the same way over there that I do here.”

Zuccarello said he hasn’t watched any Ranger games this season because of the time difference but has seen highlights.

“I just have to do my job and do what I do best and try to create some offense and see what they tell me to do and I’ll do that,” said Zuccarello before being asked whether he thinks he can pick up right where he left off in the NHL from last season when he finally was starting to look comfortable. “I hope so. Obviously it’s a little different game over here so it might take me a little bit of time. The system here is clear so you just stick with the system and it will come automatically. I’m happy to be back and see all the guys. I just have to come and do what I do and we’ll see what happens.

“Obviously, it’s different,” Zuccarello added of the KHL. “You can’t play an NHL style, you get too tired. But it was more physical than I thought before I left. It was a good experience for me to go there and play hockey in Russia and see something else. For me, it worked out great, I got to finish the season over there and then come over here. The flights are a little bit different (in Russia) but I had no issues over there. Everything worked out fine and I have nothing to complain about except maybe the food was a little bit different than I’m used to (chicken and mashed potatoes, a lot of chicken and mashed potatoes).”

Former Hurricanes and Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice was Zuccarello’s KHL coach so learning Russian was not an issue for him. Zuccarello joked it was the Russian players who needed a translator.

“This is where I want to be, hopefully I can do a good job and come back,” Zuccarello said. “It worked out fine for me.”
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Good morning from Ottawa, the Rangers will be on the ice in a half hour for their morning skate.

Mats Zuccarello is eligible to be with his old/new teammates when the morning skate begins. Finally.

The Rangers announced this morning that all the paperwork to finalize Zuccarello’s one-year, pro-rated deal of $700,000 had been finalized. The Rangers had been waiting for written approval from Zuccarello’s KHL squad, Metallurg.

No word on whether Zuccarello is in tonight’s lineup against the Senators but, more likely, his debut will come Saturday against the Canadiens. Most likely, Zuccarello will get in a conditioning bag skate post-morning skate with assistant/fitness guru Jim Schoenfeld.

More later after coach John Tortorella is asked approximately a million Zuccarello questions during his post-skate presser and gets annoyed.
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About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.